15 days, no lashes for insulting Islam

Published 10:11 pm Thursday, November 29, 2007

KHARTOUM, Sudan — A British teacher in Sudan was convicted Thursday of the less-serious charge of insulting Islam for letting her pupils name a teddy bear “Muhammad,” and was sentenced to 15 days in prison and deportation to Britain, one of her lawyers said.

Gillian Gibbons could have received 40 lashes and six months in prison in the case if found guilty of the more serious charge of inciting religious hatred and given the maximum penalty.

In London, the Foreign Office said it was “extremely disappointed with the sentence,” adding that Foreign Secretary David Miliband summoned the Sudanese ambassador to explain the verdict.

Gibbons, 54, was arrested Sunday after complaints to the Education Ministry that she had insulted Prophet Muhammad, the most revered figure in Islam, by applying his name to a teddy bear.

She was found guilty of “insulting the faith of Muslims in Sudan” under Article 125 of the Sudanese criminal code, a less-serious charge than the original count of inciting religious hatred, said Ali Mohammed Ajab, a member of her defense team.

The charge later was confirmed by a judge who was leaving the closed court session.

Gibbons’ employer, Robert Boulos of the Unity High School, called it “a very fair verdict.”

“She could have had six months and lashes and a fine, and she only got 15 days and deportation,” Boulos said.